On 11 November 1918, Poland was proclaimed as a sovereign state after it had lost independence 120 years ago. Bloody conflicts ensued during the following years over border disputes with neighboring countries. Its constitution established Poland as a parliamentary Republic in March 1921. 1926 Marshall Józef Piłsudski initiated a coup and took power.
The German invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 was joined by the Soviet Union on 17 September. The Polish military surrendered in early October. Western Poland was annexed by Germany, eastern parts were incorporated into the Soviet Union. The region in between was occupied by the fascist German regime as so-called Generalgouvernement. Poland was the country longest occupied by Germany and subjected to its occupation. Germany established concentration camps and death camps in the occupied regions.
After World War II, the Soviet Union kept those Polish regions that they had initially occupied before the subsequent German invasion. The remaining Polish population was resettled from there into those parts that were formerly eastern parts of Germany and that had been given to Poland after the war in compensation for its land loss in the east. This westward shift of Polish territory resulted in the displacement of Germans from those areas.
Poland remained under Soviet influence after 1945. In 1948 the communist and the socialist party of Poland were forced to merge as Polish United Worker’s Party (PZPR). In the same year, the PZPR won a rigged election.
In 1980, strikes and riots took place in Gdańsk and other Polish cities. Many workers joined the independent labor union Solidarność. The Polish Prime Minister Wojciech Jaruzelski imposed martial law which remained in place until 1983. Solidarność only became legal in 1989 when a big wave of reforms took place. As a result of constitutional changes, Poland became a democratic state under the rule of law. In the end of 1990, Poland held presidential elections. The leader of Solidarność, Lech Wałęsa, became the first head of Poland to be elected in a popular election.
Chronik
11.11.1918
Proclamation of the Republic of Poland
00.00.1919
Restoration of Poland as an sovereign country; wars with neighbouring countries, including the Polish-Soviet Russian War, break out due to unclear borders and territorial claims
17.03.1921
Adoption of a new constitution; Poland becomes a parliamentary republic
12. – 15.05.1926
Coup d’état under Józef Piłsudski, who remains in power until his death in 1935
23.08.1939
Signing of the so-called Hitler-Stalin Pact with a secret additional protocol, which declares Eastern Poland, Finland, Estonia and Latvia to be the Soviet sphere of interest and Western Poland and Lithuania to be German
01.09.1939
Beginning of the German attack on Poland; division of the German occupied territory into "Integrated Eastern Territories" and " General Government (Generalgouvernement) for the Occupied Polish Territories"; establishment of German concentration camps and murder of European Jews
17.09.1939
Soviet invasion of eastern Poland; integration of these areas into the Soviet State starting in November
00.00.1940
Deportation of thousands of Poles to the Soviet Union, often housing them in camps and using them for forced labour
03.04. – 11.05.1940
Shooting of over 4,000 Polish officers in Katyn Forest by the Soviet secret police
19.04. – 16.05.1943
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising crushed by the German occupying forces
01.08. – 02.10.1944
Warsaw Uprising; German demolition squads destroy large parts of the city
02.08.1945
Western displacement of Poland through the Potsdam Agreement; Polish parts of the population from eastern Poland are resettled in German-dominated areas; the still resident German population is displaced
15.12.1948
Association of communist and socialist parties to form the Polish United Workers’ Party (PZPR), which takes power through electoral fraud
14. – 31.08.1980
Worker unrest in Gdańsk (Danzig) and other Polish cities; foundation of the trade union Solidarność
13.12.1981
Prime Minister Wojciech Jaruzelski imposes martial law, which remains in force until 22.07.1983
05.04.1989
Registration of the trade union Solidarność and introduction of comprehensive reforms
29.12.1989
Adoption of a constitutional amendment law establishing fundamental changes in the political, social and economic system; Poland becomes a democratic constitutional country
